Southern women’s basketball faces UC San Diego in tournament

The Southern women's basketball team is preparing to face UC San Diego in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be held in Los Angeles at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and starts at 8 p.m. ET. Southern hopes their experience will give them an edge. This year, Southern finished with a record of 20-14. They won the SWAC regular season with 15-3 and recently clinched the conference title by defeating Alcorn State 64-44. Several players from last year's team, which lost in the opening round of the tournament, will return to help them in this matchup. Southern's head coach, Carlos Funchess, believes familiarity will help his players manage the tournament's tight schedule. Key seniors like Aleighyah Fontenot, Soniyah Reed, Sky Castro, and Tionna Lidge bring valuable experience. Reed leads the team with 47 made 3-pointers, while Lidge averages 4.8 rebounds per game. UC San Diego, with a record of 20-15, is in its first NCAA Division I tournament after moving up from Division II. They won the Big West championship against UC Davis. The Tritons are known for being athletic and skilled, but not very large in size. Sumayah Sugapong is UC San Diego's top scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game. The winner of this round will advance as the No. 16 seed to face UCLA, the top overall seed, on Friday night.